Law enforcement personnel and prison guards routinely use handcuffs for prisoner restraint. Handcuffs are generally of standardized construction and include a pair of wristlets pivotally and rotatably connected by a short link chain or hinged. Each wristlet comprises a ratchet mechanism consisting of a ratchet bar pivotally connected to a wristlet body. The ratchet bar and wristlet body have opposed teeth such that when the ratchet bar is pivoted into the wristlet body, the teeth of the ratchet bar engage the teeth of the wristlet body to prevent withdrawal of the ratchet bar in the opposite direction. Once applied to the wrist of a prisoner, the ratchet bar is released or disengaged with a key insertable into a keyhole on the wristlet.
A problem encountered in the use of conventional handcuffs is that prisoners have a certain degree of freedom to manipulate their hands because of the flexible connection between the wristlets. As such, it is possible for a prisoner to escape from the handcuffs by inserting an object into the ratchet mechanism to release the ratchet bar from the wristlet body, or by picking the lock. To avoid such problems, shielding and reinforcing devices have been previously proposed to help prevent the unauthorized release of these handcuffs.
To this end, what is needed is a handcuff shield that can be easily and quickly attached to handcuffs to prevent access to the ratchet mechanism and keyhole. The shield locks to the handcuffs covering the ratchet mechanism and keyhole to prevent the unauthorized release of the handcuffs.